I was playing a match today with hunter/shaft and started getting hit by a rico. I panicked....no protection was on for rico yet. By the time I ditched scope mode and started hiding, I assumed I would only have 1-2 more rico shots before I was doomed. Surprisingly I had more than half my health left. The Rico was fairly far away. So this is confirming what you (and I) am experiencing in the field. I always dread staying in scope mode for long at all...the new nerf of the shaft scoped shots punishes you for shorter snipes. It is nice to know that unless a rico is within 75-80m he won't kill me before I can get away.

I have been facing more protections with my rico lately. Not sure if it is simply the MM I'm dropped in to or if it is a trend. What are other Rico users seeing on the protection front?

A few questions that should help me help you answer your question: 1) What game play do you enjoy the most...DM or team matches? Your profile seems to show a huge preference for Team matches. Is that due to you enjoying it most, or that most missions are revolving around the team matches? 2) How important is getting XP to you? Your have been very successful with the Isida in this area. I don't think you will decrease in effectiveness....your's is m3 (perhaps m3 20/20=m4). The m4 Isida is a beast IMO. You will score very nicely with it in higher ranks since there are very few protections used. You do not score that well with the other turrets except the Firebird. 3) Since you play team matches the most, what role do you enjoy most on the team? I can't tell from your profile. The Firebird and Isida are very different turrets in this category. 4) What is your Viking right now? Do you get beat around much by Smoky, Rail, Rico, Twins, Thunder etc.? Be aware that at higher ranks you will get knocked silly often. You may consider moving toward a Hunter if that is the case. Mine is almost m4 now. It is much more stable and strong than the Viking. It allows me to land many more shots (increasing kills) while taking fire from the enemy tanks. On the SHAFT front: I do play with the m4 shaft and love to do so. The most recent nerf/buff has changed the game play dynamics a bit, but it is fun to use. That being said, it is NOT a great XP turret. You most likely will improve a little on your K/D ratio, but decrease in your scoring (and hence in crystals won per match). On the THUNDER front: There are more protections at the higher levels, but it is still very effective thanks to its impact, splash and firing rate. Do you enjoy playing with the Thunder? Obviously it is not a close range turret unlike the other options you are looking at. UPDATE [OOPS] I looked at the wrong profile :lol: so have tried to rework this whole thing based on your profile. Sorry about that. Just trying to get you a strong answer based on the correct info. Have a great weekend! enri

By the way, it still does have the insane afterburn damage unless they just changed it. All you have gained is a greater duration of time before you start to overheat.

Getting this thread back to its originally scheduled topic:) After playing for an hour or so with the new shaft, I am more favorable to it than I thought. In general I prefer moving around and engaging. It was pointless for the last several weeks because the arcade shots were so weak. Now they are much better and allow the shaft to engage in closer quarters. I have begun to forsake the quick snipe and wait a little bit more...that is not how I prefer to play on scoped shots, but it is more forced now with the depleted energy from any length of scoped shot. What are other tankers experiencing with the new shaft?

Thanks to the cool down period it means that they won't be able to hit the RK on the way out of the base with your flag...so you can kill them on their way to their base if you didn't prevent them from reaching the flag in your base. Also if I can get defenders to hit RK BEFORE my teams main assault force arrives, they will not be able to survive the onslaught once they arrive. Again, remember that this Shaft is one of the ultimate team-oriented turrets. Isida is obviously designed for team battles too.

Haha, hardly. Quick snipes do not kill tanks...unlike doped up thunders, magnums, and rails. As a non-camping shaft user, the quick snipe is used to soften multiple targets for either your team's assault on the base or to defend against the inevitable train of incoming isida+insert twins-vulcan-rico-etc. It is great for helping in team battles (which are the only battles I like playing in). A smart shaft player makes all the difference on a team...they just don't score that well:) Unlike the camping shaft players I guess.

I am not a fan of the "all scoped shots are equal in cost" of the nerf. I rarely use a full charge. I prefer quicker hits and a more mobile playing style. Less likely to get frozen or torched from the rear:) Anyway, I am slowly moving all turrets up toward m4 now. Haven't been using the shaft for a while because of the last changes. I'll be watching to see how it performs in battle. Did you mean "Rail" or did the Shaft use to have the capacity to penetrate multiple tanks?

I equip Thunder/Rail/Fire, then tweak with either Rico, Freeze, Magnum depending on what others are using. I just hate getting one-shotted and keeping Thunder/Rail protections keeps that from happening usually. My modules are still not at 50% however. Trying to get Hunter to m4 first.

That is a true statement. I used to ignore long range smokys, but not any more.

Titan lacks in the pushing power category however. It is one of the more frustrating aspects of the hull and keeps it balanced. A hornet has the same pushing power as the titan. Mammy, Dictator, Hunter are all much better. Viking is only marginally weaker than titan. I do prefer the speed advantage over the Mammy, but for flag sitting or scoring in rugby/assault several other hulls are better than Titan.

While I haven't played with the Titan OD, it seems like it will make Titan the premier defensive hull...perfect for flag squatting, assault protection, Control Point domination, etc. I think it would be awesome if it was mobile, but it seems it will be a dome of domination that is static. Sit on flag, hit DD and wait for OD to charge up. Add a supporting Isida and it should get very hard to take a flag

You can certainly share what you think. Sorry if I indicated otherwise. I was simply sharing an alternative opinion (perhaps even a minority opinion) of my own. It is a trade-off with any hull. For me, Hunter and Titan are the best at higher ranks. At lower ranks, hornet and viking ruled. But again that was based on my playing style and preferred turrets. As a confession, I do not like the term OP being applied to turrets or hulls I enjoy using since that means the inevitable "nerf" will get started. I enjoy the Hunter and the Titan. Again, forgive me if you felt I don't want you (or others) to share their thoughts and opinions. I am all in favor of everyone communicating and challenging each other's ideas. Peace! enri

Hunter (my favorite medium hull) is not an upgraded version of the two. It does NOT out rock, out push or out weigh Dictator. It does NOT out run or out "low profile" the Viking. Instead it is a downgrade to Dictator's size, power, and rocking ability and a downgrade to Viking's size profile and speed. It is the "Middle" Medium hull. In my opinion that makes it the most versatile Medium hull. Not OP, but OV. It is the most versatile hull (Over Versatile) in the game and depending on your choice of turret and game play it could be argued to be the best for some folks. Again, that doesn't mean it is OP. It also doesn't make it an "upgraded version of the two." In reality it is a hybrid of the two. If the hull fits your game play, then use it and enjoy. If it doesn't, then don't.

Agree on Sandbox and desert...Thunder can also be very useful hitting the buildings through the cracks in Sandbox...get several multi-kills that way.

It has promise on any board with irregular walls, but the radius for the splash damage is much too small. It needs to get closer to Thunder splash in order to be worth the crystals IMO. I bought it to try to end the isida impact behind 2-3 tanks. I tried equipping it when an Isida was behind another tank and it did almost no damage to the Isida. Big disappointment.

You describe what I thought the benefit would be...more damage and splash with almost same reload as smoky...intriguing for sure. Count me in once I get my hunter fully m4...just two more steps:)

Okay, I have Thunder at m4. Is the Lightweight ordinance autoloader alt any good? Seems like it could be highly effective in smaller maps. Anyone with advice/experience that can share it?

I am also confused on the physics of firebird (especially with the most recent mod on afterburn). I have heard that it isn't as helpful as it was before the consistent afterburn effect. If anyone actually knows something on this topic, please share. I don't use firebird or freeze too much...prefer the longer range turrets.

I certainly agree with most all here. I have mentioned some of the same things. I haven't saved up for the alt yet...trying to get my Hunter to m4. After that I think I'll try the alt. Thanks for sharing your insight!

You may have another acct, but I noticed you rarely play with Fire or Free...

Not to mention that the speed of shots is so much faster that it makes aiming very easy with the Rico. I find that without the MFS I have to "lead" the target and hope they don't change direction :wacko:

I also had quit using it as much since any protection of 40+ coupled with an m4 medium or heavy hull equaled ALMOST killing and then running out of energy. Not a good situation I discovered. I will begin using it again and seeing what it does with the new "nerf." I agree that the long range loss will be a game changer for the turret, but in reality it was never meant to be a long range weapon:)

So what turret do you usually use with Hunter? Now that my Hunter is m3 16/20 I am starting to use it more. Can't wait to have it m4. I am still frustrated I chose Viking instead of Hunter. So I've been using Titan m4 and enjoying Titan, but I prefer a more versatile hull. Hunter certainly is the king of versatility!

I've been playing Rugby lately and discovered the "Power" of Hunter is incredibly helpful at scoring goals. Today I pushed a titan off the point...the only hull that pushes harder is Dictator.